SpaceX was supposed to launch a space weather satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Sunday. The launch, however, was called-off because of a problem with a rocket-tracking system.
The space transport services company will have another attempt at launching its Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) on Monday the earliest after the tracking radar is fixed. The tentative time is set at 6:07 p.m.
"Launch Postponed," SpaceX said. "Today's launch of the DSCOVR mission is scrubbed due to loss of the Air Force's Eastern Range radar, which is required for launch. Earliest next opportunity is tomorrow, Monday, Feb. 9th at 6:07pm ET."
Sunday's launch was targeted at 6:10 p.m. but the countdown for lift-off was halted at about 2.5 minutes because of glitches with the Air Force radar system, which is crucial for tracking the rocket in flight and which serves as a crucial part of space launch operations as range safety officers should be able to destroy the rocket if it goes off course during the ascent.
SpaceX was also dealing with a rocket issue. Elon Musk, the company's founder, said that the technical problem affected a transmitter on the first stage of the rocket and that the delay appears to be good because this would provide time for replacing the first stage video transmitter.
Air Force tracking radar went down. Launch postponed to same time tomorrow.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) Feb. 8, 2015
Prob good though. Will give us time to replace 1st stage video transmitter (not needed for launch, but nice to have). — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) Feb. 8, 2015
The $340 million DSCOVR, a partnership of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), will replace a 17-year old satellite that monitors potentially dangerous solar storms as coronal mass ejections (CME) associated with these events can cause disruption of GPS and other satellite signals, affect electric power grids and block radio communications.
"We think of DSCOVR as a weather buoy," said NOAA administrator Kathryn Sullivan. "It senses first the blasts of solar wind and embedded magnetic fields that are potentially going to wreak some havoc."
SpaceX will also attempt to land the leftover booster on an ocean platform following last month's failed effort. Reusing rocket is part of SpaceX's plans that could pave way to more affordable space launches in the future.
